Lewis & Clark Law School is proud to announce that West Aron ’25, Brittany Mullen ’26, and Hollis Robb ’26 took home the first place award for “Drafting Counsel” in the Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Invitational, held on March 21, 2025 in Birmingham, Michigan!
Hollis, Brittany, and West competed against teams from 21 other law schools in both drafting and negotiating a complex M&A simulation. Team Lewis & Clark represented a private equity purchaser of a natural beauty business. The Team drafted a letter of intent and marked up two letters of intent from opposing teams. On the competition date, the Team competed in two rounds of negotiations, negotiating the two marked-up letters of intent.
“They did an incredible job representing their buyer’s interest,” said Bonnie Page, who coached the team. “The team really showed the Wayne State Taft judges that they were capable of drafting complicated M&A transaction terms clearly. They then adeptly negotiated those terms on behalf of their client, moving from topics like purchase price drivers and mechanics, to earnouts, to indemnity provisions seamlessly.”
“I am very proud of these students! And kudos to Bonnie for her dedication to teaching these students the complex intricacies of M&A!” said Prof. Susan Felstiner, chair of the Business Law Faculty Committee and Professor at the Small Business Legal Clinic, who also noted that all members of the team have participated in the Small Business Legal Clinic as interns, where they gained transactional drafting skills through their work with clients.
About the Competition
The Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Invitational is a premier event that challenges law students to hone their drafting, negotiating, and counseling skills through simulated M&A transactions. Throughout the winter semester, participating teams represent either the buyer or seller in a complex acquisition scenario. They focus on drafting and revising transactional agreements and completing mark-ups of opposing counsel’s drafts. The competition culminates in a day of live negotiations, with teams competing in two rounds. A panel of Metro Detroit M&A attorneys judges both the drafts and the negotiation sessions, providing individualized feedback and determining which teams most effectively represent their clients based on established guidelines.
Participating Schools
Participants included students from Georgetown University Law Center, University of San Diego School of Law, Southern University Law Center, DePaul School of Law. Michigan State University College of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law, Wayne State Law School, University of Kansas School of Law, University of Mississippi School of Law, St. Mary’s University School of Law, William and Mary Law School, Baylor University School of Law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Oregon School of Law, and several other schools.
